For all the attention paid to late frontman Lowell George and stalwart modern-era leader Bill Payne, Little Feat always seems to come alive when a new voice enters the conversation.
The arrival of guitarist Paul Barrere, bassist Kenny Gradney and percussionist Sam Clayton gave a career-saving jolt of funk and soul to 1973’s Dixie Chicken that had been missing on Little Feat’s initial two albums. Occasional collaborator Fred Tackett’s promotion to full-time status sparked a new song-focused sense of purpose on 1988’s gold-selling Top 40 hit comeback Let It Roll. The forthcoming Strike Up the Band, Little Feat’s first album of original songs since 2012’s Rooster Rag, likewise benefits from the presence of Scott Sharrard, a lifelong fan who initially joined the touring lineup to replace the late Barrere in 2019.
Make no mistake, Little Feat is still very much a musical collective. They all chip in on vocals (including Clayton, featured on 2024’s Grammy-nominated blueser Sam’s Place), and Payne, Tackett, Sharrard and drummer Tony Leone wrote or co-wrote every song. Their sound remains thrillingly disparate, moving from country-fried R&B to shotgun shack-shaking blues to a heel-toe hootenanny vibe with remarkable ease. Camaraderie, as always, leaks out of every groove. But Strike Up the Band still feels like a new iteration of Little Feat, with Sharrard as the obvious catalyst. His first concert was a stop on Little Feat’s late-’80s Let It Roll tour. He’s clearly spent many nights inside the open tuning of their classic records.
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You hear it from the first, as “4 Days of Heaven, 3 Days of Work” (co-written by Payne, Sharrard and Leone) catches this ferocious groove. Sharrard, a former collaborator with Gregg Allman, wrote and sang the rumbling, horn-driven “Midnight Flight.” His title track is given a touch of twang by the presence of Larkin Poe on backing vocals. No Little Feat album is complete without a moment of laugh-out-loud humor. For Strike Up the Band, Sharrard cowrote the winking “Too High to Cut My Hair” with Tackett.
At the same time, Payne remains a sturdy, vital element, whether that means romping through “New Orleans Cries When She Sings,” drifting into a Cajun sway on “Dance a Little” and dusting off “Bluegrass Pines” from writing sessions with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter that powered the Rooster Rag project. Suddenly, Little Feat had more songs than could fit on a single LP. Some were left aside. Perhaps fans won’t have to wait another 13 years for their next new album? Either way, a reworked lineup has – once again – created new momentum for Little Feat.
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Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp
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